CAD (computer aided design) tools, CAE (computer aided engineering) tools, and the like are used to perform various types of analyses for a pipeline network composed of fluidic devices and pipes used in plants etc.
In the fields of structural analysis and heat flow analysis, various types of preprocessors for automatically generating input data used for CAE from a 3D model constructed by a CAD tool have been developed. Therefore, if a model constructed by a CAD tool is obtained, it is relatively easy to realize structural analysis and heat flow analysis by a CAE tool, and it is possible to realize, in a short time, a cycle of designing with the CAD tool, evaluating design validity through analysis with the CAE tool, and redesigning with the CAD tool based on the evaluation result.
PTL 1 describes a pipe-system modeling method in which a pipe system is divided into point objects that serve as single elements corresponding to devices and branch or junction points and into interval objects that serve as composite elements collectively indicating a plurality of pipes or devices existing between the point objects; each of the objects is provided with attribute items that indicate mutual object connection relationships and attribute items that indicate the attributes of elements constituting the object; and attribute values of the interval objects are arranged in the same order as the physical arrangement of pipe elements to construct a general-purpose model common to various models with the point objects and the interval objects.